I'd like to run with the idea for allowing conference-goers to try out assistive technology at DrupalCon Chicago.
We can invite people to come try out their website with a variety of assistive technology. I suggest we schedule a BoF, since getting a permanent booth is probably more difficult. Hadi Rangin is planning to attend with his laptop that has all kinds of screen readers (JAWS, etc) and assistive software. I'll bring a Mac laptop with VoiceOver and headphones. Maybe Kate has room to pack assistive mice, keyboards or switches. Anyone bringing a refreshable braille display? Other ideas?
If we get really organized, stickers or swag would be fun. Messages could include: "#D7AX: I joined the movement for universal accessibility". "Look, ma, no monitor". "I browsed the web with no mouse." I'm sure you all have better ideas.
Reply here if you're interested. Are you attending DrupalCon and willing to bring assistive technology?
Comments
Interesting Option
I think it would be very cool if we could get a permanent space of some sort where we could give people the opportunity to demo their sites using AT.
I like the ideas of the swag. If someone can do work with the graphics, I can get them posted on CafePress or something like that so that we could play with those ideas & see what folks like.
A projector & a webcam could be useful. Would be very valuable to just show a blind person navigating their site. I found it very interesting to watch in the past.
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OpenConcept | Twitter @mgifford | Drupal Security Guide
Birds of a Feather session
Hi Brandon,
I will bring my Refreshable Display with me.
The Birds of a Feather session is usually a good way to connect to potential interested colleagues to accessibility. It will give them the opportunity to ask their questions about accessibility in a kind of informal environment without being afraid to insult anyone or feel they are asking "stupid question".
How many Birds of a Feather session do you think we need? One for each presentation or one per day or so?
Thanks,
Hadi
I think this is a great idea
I think this is a great idea - I think a booth in particular would be a really fantastic way to reach out to developers and others who are not even aware of accessibility as an issue (or don't think it is one they need to care/know about). BoFs would be good too, but is probably likely to mostly reach people who are already at least a little interested in accessibility.
In SF there was a D7UX booth, in a very prominent place - so I don't think this idea is impossible. Does anyone know who is organizing booths in Chicago - if we have a personal connection it might be good if that person could follow up on our behalf? If the Drupal association is not willing to foot the bill for the booth (not sure if there are actual per-booth costs from the conference center, or just implicit ones) it may be possible to get sponsorship from a few Drupal shops.
Swag is also a good idea, and might help get more people to go to or stop at the booth. I could ask one of our designers if they would be willing to help polish up some graphics if someone can come up with a concept. Do we have any idea about numbers - we don't want to run out. I guess we would need at least a few hundred total - ideally a couple of thousand? We might also want to get a big "D7AX: making Drupal accessible" (or whatever) banner for a booth.
We would also need to figure out a schedule for helping at the booth (so we have at least 1 person there when needed, although hopefully others can stop by during peak times). I would be interested in helping out at the booth for a morning/afternoon or whatever.
I'm totally on board with
I'm totally on board with this. I'll bring orthopedic mice and see if I could get some switches. Also, I wouldn't recommend letting people try these out, but I could try to get a hold of a mouth stick, head wand, and possibly a sip-and-puff device.
I'd also love to design the D7AX swag. I can do laptop stickers, cards (something grab-able with a URL on it), and the banner. I'll be glad to donate at least the stickers and cards.
It would also be great if we could get a few t-shirts to give out, maybe to module owners who make the D7AX pledge at DrupalCon.
Now you're making me wish I could go!
Kate, if you can come up with a design for T-shirts, I might be able to get a neighbor of mine to do them at a good price.
Want me to check with him?
AbleGamers had folks doing a video game with a head wand at Accessibility Camp DC. That was neat -- folks who normally scored a gazillion points wound up scoring, oh, 12. Quite a learning experience.
Booth?
Does anyone know who we should contact about a booth like the UX people had?
It sounds like we have some great AT (hardware and software) to show, plus some ideas for fun swag. If we can nail down whether it is a booth during the whole event or just a BoF, that will help us finalize plans.
www.pixotech.com
ux booth in DC?
I believe the booth that Mark and Leisa had at Drupalcon DC was paid for by their sponsorship of the event (or was part of their compensation, or some mix).
Regardless of the exact story, it wasn't just that they asked for a booth for a good cause and got it :/ That would be a pretty hard thing to figure out which groups could get one and which couldn't.
knaddison blog | Morris Animal Foundation
Booths Come with Bronze Sponsorship
I just got a notice from the Drupal Association about this. Booth's come with Bronze sponsorship, right? That's $4k so not cheap, but we've done it before.
Would be easier and more collaborative if we had a few shops contributing to it.
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OpenConcept | Twitter @mgifford | Drupal Security Guide
BoF or Booth
I propose we start with a BoF this year. A booth would be cool, but presents a few challenges: Staffing it around the clock (since we have specialty equipment we can't leave it unstaffed) is tricky. Having a booth in a noisy hall would be hard for trying and discussing some of the assistive technology. And raising $4k would take some work.
Personally I'm ready to keep working on BoF plans. As soon as the schedule for presentations is published, we can pick 1 or 2 BoF times that are after the accessibility presentations.
If anyone really wants to go for a booth, speak up.
www.pixotech.com
Accessibility Code Sprint
I would be up for an accessibility code sprint/documentation sprint one night also. Maybe get a room just for the evening to get some progress on patches to contrib modules for accessibilty. Or work on the accessible helper module.
www.johnbarclay.com
Not a bad idea, John!
And if you're doing a code sprint, you'll need a test setup, right? Just having that going on might get some developers and themers to see a little better what the obstacles are and why it's important to remove them.
This thought coming from someone who won't be able to attend, so take it for what it's worth.
Logo & swag update
Even with the challenges of getting a booth, D7AX swag is still a go. I've been working on the logo design and should have something to show here by the end of the week. From there, I'll be printing up stickers and business cards with the group URL in them. We can distribute these at the accessibility talks, and at the BoF, maybe even at the code sprint.
Regarding shirts, Cliff I'll send you the design ASAP and let me know what you can do, if the offer re:your neighbor still stands.
You got it, Kate!
I'll check with them tonight!